• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

Do you use D&D XP system as written?

Do you use D&D XP system as written?



log in or register to remove this ad

Too High To count

Hi all -
I modified the XP Chart to the following:
Code:
Level	XP Standard	Encounter Based XP / Lvl	Encounters Per Lvl	Feats Gained	Ability Score Increase	Encounter Based XP for Standard Conversion	Standard Based XP Per Encounter	Standard Based XP Per CR
1	0	0	0	2		67	72	300
2	1k	15	15			134	142	600
3	3k	30	15	3	1	200	215	900
4	6k	45	15			267	285	1200
5	10k	60	20	4		250	357	1800
6	15k	80	20		2	300	430	2400
7	21k	100	20	5		350	500	3600
8	28k	120	20			400	572	4800
9	36k	140	25	6		360	645	7200
10	45k	165	25		3	400	715	9600
11	55k	190	25	7		440	785	14000
12	66k	215	25			480	858	19000
13	78k	240	30	8	4	434	930	29000
14	91k	270	30			467	1000	38000
15	105k	300	30			500	1071	58000
16	120k	330	30	9	5	534	1142	77000
17	136k	360	35			486	1214	120000
18	153k	395	35	10		515	1285	150000
19	171k	430	35			543	1357	230000
20	190k	475	35		6	572	1429	310000


Ok, so the lines don't line up exact. But the point is that the rules state that you're to have 14 enoucnters before leveling. I found that to be a whole lot too soon per the Challenge Rating, Effective Encounter Level and so forth. And then having do determine what XP was given to a PC that was 5th lvl vs his friend that is 6th because he didn't miss any games.
So now each encounter is 1 encounter. If there are 10 orcs, that's 1 eno:):):):)er. If there are 10 Orcs on wereboars and that's all part of the action, that could also be 1 encounter, but if it's pretty tough, I might count it as 2. So 1 encounter = 1 XP. Simple.
If the part gets out of a trap, that may not be an encounter - because only the rogue took care of it. And I don't think they should get an encounter for something when nobody else can. With combat, everybody can do something. So all get the encounter, because without the rogue doing the trap, nobody would have gotten the combat.
We had 2 traps go off in succession, and by different players contacting different area's of the map. Also, while 2 people were falling down a 60' pit, another player caused a statue to come to life which also called a Vrock. So the 2 pits were 1 encounter, the 2 cupids and succubus were 1 encounter and the Vrock was another - and this all went on at the same time in the same huge ass room. I just got lucky with players going off on their own, and failing their listen check to hear their friends crashing through the floor.

So 15 eno:):):):)ers for lvls 1-4. Then add 5 to that as they get up in levels. this keeps them from going up too fast. But because I'm making it harder, I give them extra feats and ability score increases a little bit sooner. This keeps the players happy.

When I did this chart, it all made sense to me. But to explain it is difficult, and I hope someone can figure it out, and tell me how I did it!
Be Well.
 


Nope. I use the default system as a basis but I modify it a fair bit. I give about 50% of the amount suggested by the monster's CR. The other 50% is made up from roleplaying XP that is awarded each session and story awards.

I am thinking about using the default XP system in my next campaign as I plan to run an AP and it would make life a lot simpler.

Olaf the Stout
 

I do now.
I tried to handwave XP and just level up when I felt the characters needed to level. It just didn't fit my style.
 

Yes & no. It depends on the campaign. If I'm running a prepackaged adventure I tend to run with the standard assumptions, because it means the player's will advance at the rate the adventure assumes. If not, I prefer as slightly slower rate, which is mostly ad hoc with the standard rules as a guideline.
 



I go as by-the-book as possible, going right down to using an XP calculator to guarentee accuracy. I always take the time to make sure that players have adequate downtime for improving themselves, and I award per-session Role-play XP as a nice extra for my players.

I have had several DM's who have modified the XP system. I have not liked ANY of them. One gave out 1/10th standard XP, but gave thousands of experience for e-mailign him a character picture, backstory, or bribing him.

One arbitrarily awarded Whole Levels. On one occasion, we skipped a level, going from twelve to fourteen with no intermediate step.

I do not like people who radically stray from the xp-system.
 

Yes, as written. Players seem to like knowing what their rewards will be in advance. Provides for faster character advancement that I like for novice gamers - they seem to advance faster than they learn to utilize their abilities (i.e. characters advance faster than the players). Rate appears to be pretty good for moderate to experienced players.
 

Into the Woods

Remove ads

Top